Okay. Back to the basics. Here’s Robin Trower‘s “Too Rolling Stoned” from 1975. There was a blues revival going on back then, but it was overshadowed by theatrical rock.
I was gonna jump to George Thorogood‘s classic cover of “One Bourbon…” but thought I’d look for John Lee Hooker‘s original. Found several on the Utoobage, until this jumped up: “Hobo Blues” from 1965. Judging by his odd fingerings, he’s got his guitar tuned to Dmajor, but that’s just a guess. (Hooker always looked to me like he’d been popped in both eyes during a bar fight.)
Since Friday the Thirteenth comes on a Saturday this month, here’s The 13th Floor Elevators, 1966.
Odd. Consider it a cartoon before the main feature.
Best opening sequence for Cheers without the cloying theme song.
Buddy Guy talks about how his career began with a salami sandwich. True rags-to-riches story. (G.E. Smith backing.)
I was prowling for some early Thunderbirds when I found a name I’d forgotten about. Here’s Kid Ramos and Los Fabulocos cranking on “Burnin’ the Chicken” in New Braunfels, Texas, 21 March 2009.
This is the funniest version of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe.”
The Turtles made a mockery of pop love songs, but created a decent string of hits anyway. Flo and Eddie eventually joined Frank Zappa’s Mothers. (Mrs. Strutts pointed out that Eddie dances the Freddie at the end of the clip.)
1973. Ugh. Rock N Roll was losing its edge, and then some unknown band like Focus got a lot of airplay, at least for a few minutes. We did our best to ignore the yodeling, except for the Popeye part. Here’s a rare live version of “Hocus Pocus,” with Gladys Knight(?!) doing the intro.
1973 also brought this to our FM converters so we could hear it on our AM car radios. Golden Earring‘s greatest hit, “Radar Love,” wasn’t their best song, but it was great roadtrip music.
1973 had THIS highlight, though: Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” (before he went weeny on us).
1973 music sucked on a whole lotta levels never seen before. Top BillBoard hits included:
“You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon
“Crocododile Rock” by Elton John
“Bad Bad Leroy Brown” by Jim Croce
“Top of the World” by the Carpenters
“There’s Got To Be A Morning After” by Maureen McGovern
“Tie a Yellow Ribbofdpnoa oh man I can’t type any more of that garbage without gagging.
BUT THERE WAS THIS:
Gladys Knight was awesome. We were all Pips in the days of old (“Whoo-whoo!”). Then I lost my direction again with this:
Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” was being played on the radio about the same time brother JohnnyRick Derringer was getting airplay for “Rock And Roll Hoochie Coo.” [cbullitt corrected me in the comments section.]
Johnny Winter was better at the blues, but he cranked on Dylan’s “Highway 61.” (Look for G.E. Smith on rhythm guitar.)
Dang. I could take this string for another dozen utoobage links, but I’ll cut it here… temporarily.
* “SatMat” means “Saturday Matinee.” It looked better abbreviated on the title.
Kid Ory was one of the greatest trombonists and band leaders of the 20th Century. One of the early jazz pioneers, his career spanned decades and influenced uncountable others. From Wikipedia:
For many years I thought King Oliver formed the band. Here’s Kid Ory’s band in 1959, playing “Muskrat Ramble,” a song he wrote in the 1920’s. [Bonus: Interview with Kid Ory.]
Satchmo got his start playing 2nd trumpet in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, later married the piano player Lil Hardin. Here’s Louis Armstrong’s version of “Muskrat Ramble.”
Country Joe MacDonald blatantly and unashamedly ripped off Kid Ory’s tune (probably without paying royalties) and warped it into a sarcastic war protest song. Here he is in his blissfully ignorant glory (apparently without the Fish) at Woodstock 1969.
Here’s a kinda related video: Small Faces’ “Tin Soldier.” There’s a reason they had few TV appearances and I don’t think Spinal Tap could’ve topped that spastic performance. [Found via Mogadonia.]
Just sealed it. I’m going to hell for connecting Kid Ory with Spinal Tap Lego animation. I am very sorry and I promise that it won’t happen again as far as you know.
[Folks, I still got some computer glitches left over from earlier this week. I had to go into safe mode just to uninstall Microdork’s Service Pack 3. Unfortunately the uninstall takes some stuff with it that affects FireFox as well as some other applications. The computer was limping, now it’s walking. Tomorrow I hope to get it running again. Guess I gotta buy more RAM.]
A friend “let” me read his cellophane-clad mint copies of the Watchmen twenty years ago. I was amazed at the level of artwork as well as the entire concept, but the final episode sucked donkeys big time.
[Karen found and posted this here.]
This video reassures me that people like her are allowed to vote. And really now, what is oozing out of our ground?
[Video rediscovered at Wombat247.]
Weather Report was way ahead of their time jazzbo wise, or maybe they hit it at just the right time in order to get my attention. Jaco Pastorius was amazing.
Here’s Micky Hart’s Planet Drum from a few years back. (I have one of the Planet Drum CDs that I play at full blast from my porch on Halloween. I love the way it echoes around the neighborhood, even if Mrs. Strutts hates it. When she’d complain, I’d switch to Tom Wait’s “Bone Machine.” She doesn’t complain about Planet Drum anymore.)
The Sirens from “O Brother Where Art Thou” sang a song both pretty and dangerous. Great movie.
Hambone is the traditional folk music consisting of rhythms produced by slapping oneself and making noises without singing. It traces its history to the pre-civil war South, and was probably introduced by west african slaves. Regardless of your musical tastes, Hambone is harder than it looks. Try it yousef and you’ll see.
The Hambone Brothers showed up occasionally on the long running TV show, “HeeHaw.” The guy on the left was cool, but the guy on the right always creeped me out.
Jeff Holt does Hambone with the always amazing Doc Watson.
Holt and Watson doing “Soldier’s Joy” and “Ragtime Annie.”
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, with Pete Seeger on banjo. Terry’s breath control and “whoopin'” on harmonica was directly related to Hambone, if you didn’t notice. (Unless I’m mistaken, Sonny and Brownie also had a small cameo on the first Blues Brothers movie.)
And finally, a public service announcement from Plaxico Burress.
Tacky Raccoons 